Training Pet Cats Not to Scratch Furniture

Pet owners are often disappointed that their cats do not read the label designating a carpet-covered post as a scratching post and that they continue to scratch a couch or chair. Training a cat to stop scratching furniture may mean removing or covering the mutilated furniture and replacing it with an alternative object, such as a scratching post, in the same prominent place.

Cats like to take long vertical strokes when scratching, so they prefer posts covered with a material that has vertically oriented threads. Cats also will use redwood or pine posts, if the posts are roughed up first with a wire brush. Because cats like to stay with a territorial marker once they have started scratching it, owners find that once a cat starts scratching a post, they can move the post to a less prominent place.